Improvement in soldering-tools



1 present an extended heating-surface.

UNITED STATES ATEnT rricn.

JOSEPH SEARS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN 4SCLDERlNCai-TOOLS.

Specification forming pait of Lette's Patent No. 152,169., dated July 7,1874; applicaion filed Aprn 7, 1874. Y

@Asn A.

To all whom it may concern Be 1t known that I, JOSEPH SEARS, ot' thecity of Chicago and county of Cook, in the March, 1873, the same havinga hollow tip,

within which a heating-jet is sustained by properly-mingled gas and airconducted into the tip-cavity through Aa tubular handle.

The present invention consists, iirst, in a superior mode of couplingthe hollow tip orl copper tothe handle-tube. The metal of whichthis partof the tool or iron is composed expands to such an extent and oxidizesso readily, especially at joints, that the proper attachment of hollowtips has been a matter of considerable practical difficulty. In theimproved tool the joint is enveloped,

lwhile hot, by dame or gas, so as not to be exposed to the air, and,consequently, will not oxidize to any considerable extent. The Hamespaceis, at the same timeyso formed as to The tightening` of the joint, if itbecomes loose, is provided for. The scrap-copper may be sepa-rated withfacility when the tip is worn out, and a new tip may be screwed onto thesaine couplingtube or plug. The latter is also adapted to bereadily andcheaply made, of small size, from gas-pipe; and the tip is adapted to beformed without the labor and waste of any turning operation. Theinvention consists, Secondly, in a shield or detlector applied t0 thehandle-shank, to turn back the hot products of combustion escaping fromthe rear end of the tip, so as to cause them to envelop the tip moreperfectly, and thus assist the heating` operation andpretard oxidation.The shield or deiector operates also to throw the heat upon the work, soas to facilitate the soldering operation; it also operates to protectthe hand while the tool is in use.

Figure l is a side elevation of asolderingiron, illustrating thisinvention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsection of the saine. Figs. 3 and 4are, respectively, alongitudinal section and an end view of the improvedtip shown in Figs. l and 2. Figs. 5 and 6 are similar views of amodified tip. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a holder or rest adaptedto support the iron while it is not in use, and to co-operate with theinclosed jet and the shield or deilector, for heating the copper andprotect ing it from oxidation. Fig. S is a vertical longitudinal sectionof the holder or rest, showing the iron in elevation within the same.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

rIhis improved soldering-ironie composed of a hollow copper tip, A, awooden handle, B, an axial tube, C, constituting the shank and core ofthe handle, a coupling tube or plug, i

D, for uniting the tip and handle-tube, and a shield or deilector, E,supported behind the tip, to throw the products of combustion back overthe same, and to protectthe hand of the operator. The tip or copper ismade of suitable externall shape for its work, and may be manufactured,for instance, by hain- Inering or casting Va solid blank, and thenrecessing and iinishing it by dies in a droppress, as more fullydescribed in another specification. rlhe tip-cavity z is tapped with ascrew-thread, l; and equidistant longitudinal passages 2 are formedaround the same, for distributing the escaping products Ofcombustion,and bringing them in contact with more surface. In the preferred form oftip, these passages 2 are formed by wings of the tip-cavity, asillustrated in Figs. 2 and 4, and the screw-thread l is tapped in inwardprojeciions, by which the passages are separated; but the passages 2 maybe formed in the outer surface of a large `plug or supplementalplug, DZ,to be used in connection with a circular tip-cavity, z2, and acontinuous screw-thread, l, therein, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6.

rilhe handle B inthe illustration is wholly a wire, y, in acircumferential groove.

The handle-tube C consists of small gas-pipe, and, for the purposes ofthis invention, may be wholly plain, unthreaded, and unturned. Itprojects at the end ot' the handle suiiicient to receive the end of aflexible tube, and extends into the tip-cavity as the burner.

OwingV to the construction of the tip as above described, the plug D isadapted to be readily and cheaply madeof gas-pipe, consisting of a shortsection of this material of the proper diameter. .The plug may bepermanently attached either to the handle-tube or to the tip, orseparably to both. In the illustration, the plug is permanently attachedto the handle-tube by driving it thereon, and its end is threaded, so asto screw into the tip, or into the plug or supplemental plug D2, (shownin Figs. 5 and 6;) or the handle-tube may be screwed directly into thelatter.

This supplemental plug D2 is not illustrated as a modication of the plugD, as hereinafter claimed, but as a m odication of the improved tip.

Owing to the relatively small size of the coupling-screw as formed bythe plug D, it is not materially affected by the expansion ofthe tip,and the expansion ofthe tip does not otherwise strain or weaken anypart. By partially unscrewing the tip, and' compressing it withinpointed jaws in a vise, it may readily be tightened up. By heating andthus expanding the worn-out tip, it may readily be screwed ofi', and thescrap-copper thus saved, and with equal facility a new tip may be.applied. The plug may thus be made to answer for several tips.

The shield or deiector E is made oi' cast or malleable iron, and may beattached to the handle-tube behind the plug D by a set-screw, x, or itmay be formed on or 'attached to the coupling tube or plug. The shieldor deflector is constructed with a concave face to increase itsefficiency.

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate the employment of a holder or rest, H, forsupporting this improved iron while it is out of the hand, employed asillustrated, the same consisting of a horizontal tube open at both ends,of suflicient size to inclose the tip and deilector, and supported onthe bench by one or more legs. The delector closes the rear end of thisholder, and the products of combustion are Ycaused to escape through theother end, which is contracted around the point of the tip. But thisholder or rest is the subject-matter, in part, of another invention,`described in a separate speciication of even date herewith.

rIhe following is claimed as new in this invention, namely:

1. The imperforate hollow tip A, having an internal screw-thread, 1, andlongitudinal escape-passages 2 extending outward throughv the rear endof the tip, substantially as herein shown and described, for the objectsset forth.

2. The combination of the imperforate hol'- low tip A, having aninternal screw-thread and longitudinal escape-passages in its rear end,the gas-pipe coupling or plug D, and the small handle-tube C within thelatter, sub'- stantially as herein specified.

3. In combination with the hollow tip A, having a flame-cavity and openrear end, the shield or deilector E applied behind the tip to throw backthe products of combustion, so as to cause them to envelop the tip, andto heat the work, and to protect the hand, as described.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand this 27th day ofMarch, 1874.

Witnesses: JOSEPH SEARS.

HENRY MonEHoUsE, H'ALsrED BURNET.

